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A MODEL FOR EQUITABLE QUALITY OF LIFEIN THE RURAL PUNJAB: A REGIONAL APPROACH
by
MUHAMMAD AMIN UL KARIMn
B.Sc, The University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, 1963B.Sc, Town Planning, West Pakistan University of Engineeringand Technology, Lahore, Pakistan, 1968
A MASTER'S THESIS
submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirement for the degree
MASTER OF REGIONAL AND COMMUNITY PLANNING
Department of Regional and Community Planning
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITYManhattan, Kansas
1985
Approved by:
Major Professor
LP,Kit
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am deeply indebted to a host of people who provided
me help and guidance in researching for this thesis.
Dr. V. P. Deines, Head of the Department of Regional
and Community Planning consented to be my major advisor. His
expertise of small towns and rural planning was a great help
to me and he guided me through this research. I am extremely
thankful to him for his cooperation and valuable advice. Dr.
E. W. Nafziger and Dr. Jan Flora with their immense experience
in the developing countries of the world provided constructive
criticism and insight to help me refine certain proposals.
Outside of my committee, Dr. A. C. Nelson was of great help
by offering valuable suggestions.
My special thanks are due to my friends; Don Deitrich,
Bharat Bhushan, Dan Smith, Louis Nemeth and Kay Onwukwe, the
graduate students in planning. Their encouraging words were
heard in the most opportune and needed moments.
Last but not the least, my loving thanks to my wife
Zakia. Without her encouragement it would have been difficult
for me to pursue my studies.
Ill
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 11
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II.
The Background (1) — The Problems (5)Scope and Purpose of This Study (9) —Methodology of Study (9) — Outline ofStudy (10)
LAND TENURE SYSTEM AND LANDREFORMS IN THE PUNJAB 12
CHAPTER III.
History (12) — Land Utilization in Pakistanand the Punjab (15) — Land Reforms in thePunjab (15) — Summary (18)
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE ANDRURAL DEVELOPMENT 20
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
District Administration and Socio-EconomicDevelopment (23) — Local Self-Government:The System of Basic Democracies (23) —The Rural Cooperatives (25) — Politics ofAdministration (26) — Summary (27)
RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THEPUNJAB
Village Aid (1952-1969) (28) ~ BasicDemocracies (29) — Agriculture DevelopmentCorporation (1961-1972) (31) — IntegratedRural Development Program (32) —People's Work Program (34) — RuralDevelopment Organization (34) — Conclusion (35)
RURAL DEVELOPMENT THEORIESAND MODELS
Central Place Theory (36) — Rational-Comprehensive Planning (39) — Spatial-Functional Policy (40) — DependencyTheory (41) — Growth Pole Policy (42) —Agropolitan Theory (44) — Summary (48)
28
36
iv
CHAPTER VI. PROPOSALS FOR THE RURALDEVELOPMENT IN THE PUNJAB 49
Land Reform (49) — AdministrativeReforms (51) — Summary (63)
CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 64
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 68
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
The Background
Pakistan emerged on the map of the world on August 14,
1947, as a result of the partition of British India into two
sovereign states. The Eastern wing of the country now known
as Bangladesh, seceded in December 1971. Current-day Pakistan
comprises of four provinces: Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier,
the Punjab, and Sind. A map of Pakistan delineating the admini-
strative subdivisions is shown in Figure 1.
The territories which now constitute Pakistan have witnessed
the rise and fall of many civilizations dating back to 3000
B.C. The Indus Valley civilization left its marks in such cities
as Harappa and Moenjo Daro. The Aryan invaders destroyed this
civilization in about 1200 B.C. They supplemented their rule
with their religion which came to be known as Hinduism. At
the beginning of the eighth century A.D. , the Muslims appeared
for the first time in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. They
settled at a small fishing village near the Indus delta not
far from the present city of Karachi. Almost three centuries
later, the Turks and Afghans became the spearhead of Islamic
conquest in India, through the traditional routes of the northwest,
mostly through the Khyber Pass. Mahmud of Ghazni (979-1030)
included the Punjabs as a permanent part of his empire and Lahore
Figure /. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan
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developed as a muslim culture center. The early thirteenth
century was the time of consolidation for the new Muslim sultanate
of northern India centered in Delhi (1206-36). Within one hundred
years most of the subcontinent had been conquered including
Kashmir, Bengal, and the major part of the southern India.
India in the early sixteenth century presented a fragmented
picture. Babur laid the foundation of the great Mughal empire
(1526-1857) which covered all but the southernmost tip. Mughal
cultural achievements in art, architecture, courtly manners,
and religious movements are still evident in the subcontinent.
In 1757, the British defeated the Mughal viceroy of Bengal and
got full control of Bengal. There is no doubt that long before
1857 the Mughal empire had lost a great deal of authority but
with the fall of Delhi in that year, the Mughal empire came
to an end. The British suppressed and humiliated the Muslims.
As the Muslims were the rulers, the British were anxious to
ensure that they should not be in a position to regain their
lost authority and power. In 1885, the Indian National Congress
was founded. Its primary objective was to look after the political
interests of all the communities in India but with the increase
in political activities, the muslims became increasingly dis-
illusioned with it. In 1906, the All-India Muslim League was
founded for the protection of the muslim rights and interests.
The Government of India Act of 1935 provided complete autonomy
to the provinces. Due to unjust policies and highhandedness
of the Congress government, large-scale riots took place in
which many Muslims lost their lives and properties. In the
wake of this situation, the muslims rallied round the Muslim
4
League which soon became their representative body. After the
observation of the Congress rule in the provinces, the muslim
arrived at the conclusion that the only feasible alternative
for the muslims was the establishment of a sovereign state of
their own. At its annual session in Lahore on March 23, 1940,
the League resolved that the areas of muslim majority in the
northwest and in the northeast of India should be grouped to
constitute independent states, autonomous and sovereign, and
that no independence plan without this provision would be acceptable
to the muslims. From 1940 reconciliation between Congress and
the League became increasingly difficult. Muslim enthusiasm
for Pakistan grew and became an objective fact in 1947.
The British established law and order mainly by military
power and later by the imposition of a strong civil and admini-
stration. They recognized the right of private ownership in
land which gave rise to the jagirdar (grant/gift holder) and
zamindar (landlord) class. The right of the tenants was dependent
on the will of the iaqirdars and zamindars . The exclusiveness
of the civil servants and the rural elites due to their assumption
of innate superiority produced pychological effects on the public
that succeeding bureaucracies have not yet been able to overcome.
In the Punjab province, about seventy-one percent of
the population lives in the villagesl but a majority of them
are landless farmers and sharecroppers. In the Punjab, land
represents the principal form of wealth and political power.
1 Rafig Akhtar, ed. , Pakistan Year Book 1982-83 . (KarachiEast and West Publishing Company, 1982), p. 8.
5
The challenge today is to reverse forces which have created
dangerous social and economic dualism.
The Problems
The problems faced by the average rural dwellers in
the Punjab are:
Land Tenure
The landlords have a strong hold over the social, economic,
and political life. Most of the major political figures are
the landlords. The tenants and the small landowners are the
oppressed class in the Punjab. Although the tenants are legally
protected, the landlords are so powerful and influential that
they could simply expell a tenant.
The Fragmentation of land holding is also a problem.
The division of the land among all legal heirs of a deceased
person (sons, daughters, and wives) usually renders uneconomic
units of cultivation. According to the Government of Pakistan
definition, a subsistence unit of land consists of twelve and
one-half acres of irrigated land. About eighty-five percent
of the total number of farming units in the Punjab are below
this limit. 2
2Charles E. Ratliff, Jr., "Rural Development in Pakistan"in Rural Development in Pakistan , ed. Richard A. Stanford (NorthCarolina: Carolina Academic Press, 1980), p. 138.
TABLE 1.1
FARM SIZE DISTRIBUTION, 1973
PUNJAB PROVINCE
Size <Df Farm Percent of Percent ofin acres farms total area
Up to 12.5 85.0 43.2
Above 12.5 to 25 10.6 20.0
Above 25 to 50 3.4 13.2
Above 50 to 100 0.7 7.1
Above 100 to 150 0.3 6.3
Above 150 0.2 10.2
The agrarian structure of the Punjab has not changed
substantially since independence. The two land reforms of 1959
and 1972 were primarily for the redistribution of land to small
farmers and tenants but the reforms did not make a dent due
to the high ceiling on the individual holding and the provision
of exemption and transfers allowed to landlords.
Local Administration
Local bodies have existed in the country in one form
or another but they have hardly proved an effective instrument
of economic development. In highly 'top-down' administrative
structure, all significant development activity is centered
7
at the district level. In the Punjab, a district has a population
of between a million and a million and a half persons, and covers
1500 villages. The Deputy Commissioner heads a district.
At the lowest level the representative local government
is the Union Council composed of three to four villages. The
councilors are elected by direct adult franchise. Land holding
patterns are reflected in the Union Council elections in that
chairmen are almost invariably the biggest landowners in the
area. The village community is divided in biradaris (caste)
consideration. The political dominance of landed interests
have never been challenged in Union council elections. However,
cleavage and competition generally takes place along ethnic
lines. The government programs aimed at improving the socio-economic
conditions of the people proved ineffective due to inadequate
participation of the rural masses in the decision-making process.
Urban Bias
Industry was virtually non-existent in Pakistan at the
time of independence. The government wanted to diversify the
economy. This encouraged the concentration of industries in
big cities. Although the majority of the population lives in
rural settlements the allocation of funds for rural development
are less than one-fourth of the allocation for urban areas.
3
Most rural areas lack basic infrastructure.
3 Federal Bureau of Statistics; Government of Pakistan,Pakistan Statistical Yearbook. 1981 . (Karachi, The Manager ofPublication, 1982), p. 225.
8
The lukewarm attitude of the state bureacracy and the
rural elite toward the improvement of the quality of life for
the rural masses have given rise to secondary problems. Although
the problem mentioned below is the effect of underdevelopment
and inequality, this is also a significant problem and needs
immediate attention.
Migration
There are two factors forcing youth to migrate out of
the village. These factors could be called 'pull-factor' and
'push-factor'. The pull factor includes the promise or anticipation
of better employment opportunities in the urban areas or even
in the Middle East. The push factor includes many things like:
1) Small parcels of land which could not be cultivated
economically;
2) Waterlogging and salinity converting the land to
marginal fertility rendering it uneconomical to
cultivate;
3) The educated person prefers to work in an office
rather than be a farmer;
4) The abatement of traditional crafts :
5) Lack of infrastructure facilities like hospital,
schools, clean drinking water, electricity, trans-
portation and communication system is forcing people
to move to urban areas where even in slums the conditions
are better than most of the rural areas.
9
These problems are deep rooted and cannot be solved
easily. However, the effort of the government and the people
to be considerate for the others would help solve these problems.
Scope and Purpose of This Study
My aim in this study is to analyze the present land
tenure and administrative structure in the Punjab province and
its effects on the socio-economic conditions of the rural popul-
ation. I shall review the important rural development programs
carried out at different .times throughout the history of Pakistan.
The high degree of reliance on foreign aid in general and too
much government assistance or guidance in rural development
programs in particular, has caused the failure of many rural
development programs in the Punjab. In this study, I emphasize
a model based on self-reliance and phased reduction of dependency
on aid.
Methodology of Study
A literature survey and analysis will be the principal
method in preparing this study. Literature to be analyzed and
evaluated includes among others:
a) Research done by various national and international
organizations on various issues related to the rural
development in the Punjab, Pakistan.
b) Demographic, social and economic information derived
from various national and international agencies'
publications for the Punjab, Pakistan.
10
c) Case studies and models of rural development in
other developing and developed countries.
d) The agropolitan approach and its possible application
in the Punjab, Pakistan. This model incorporates
the ideas of self-management and basic needs. It
is a political and a territorial conception.
The statistical information in this report is the most
recent available. However, some recent statistics are not available
to me, but I believe that this will not undermine the overall
thrust of the policy recommendations.
Outline of Study
The chapters in the study are arranged in the following
sequence:
Chapter two deals with the land reform measures adopted
by the government and its failure to accomplish any measurable
change in land ownership pattern supporting rural development.
Chapter three examines the present administrative structure
and its role in assisting or hindering the rural development.
Chapter four deals with the past and present programs
for rural development in the Punjab. These programs did not
produce the anticipated results due to a centralized top-down
planning approach, failure to learn from experience, and to
rectify past mistakes.
Chapter five discusses various rural development models
applied in the Punjab. The agropolitan model is also discussed
in this chapter.
11
Based on the findings of the previous chapters, chapter
six proposes a development policy for the rural Punjab.
Finally, chapter seven summarizes the conclusions and
recommendations to future study.
CHAPTER 2
LAND TENURE SYSTEM AND LAND REFORMS
IN THE PUNJAB
Land is the main source of the rural economy. Its distribution
in different segments of the society has established a complex
socio-culture and economic pattern which prevents the peasants
from being organized.
History
The Mughal Period (1526-1857)
During the stable period of the Mughal rule, a farmer's
position was that of a state tenant who paid rent for the usufruct
of the land. Land revenue was collected for the ruler by his
agents, assignees of large areas who were often among the influential
individuals from the villages. This class of revenue farmers
have been called zamindars (landlords) . There was another class
who were given the right to collect land revenue for themselves
from peasants within a specified area for their services to
the rulers, such as supplying troops in war. The assigned estates
came to be known as iaairs (grants/gifts) and their holders
as jaqjrdars. However, in the later stages of the Mughal rule,
occupancy rights had assumed the attributes of private ownership
in practice, mainly because of the erosion of central authority
and with it the rise of contending claims to power.
12
13
The British Period (1857-1947)
The British had annexed the Punjab in 1849 under the
East India Company rule even before formally overthrowing the
symbolic Mughal rule. In order to create friends and loyal
supporters among the enemy, the British recognized the right
of private land ownership. These rights were recognized on
large estates held by the jagirdars and the zamindars and on
small pieces held by the ryot (peasant-cultivator). The British
initially introduced cash revenue settlement which forced many
small peasant-cultivators into debt to moneylenders who became
landowners by acquiring land through alienation from those who
could not bear the perpetual burden of debt. Under landlords,
who were mainly absentee rent receivers, lease holding by the
money lenders, who were mainly Hindus, also became an important
feature of the land tenure system of the Punjab. 4 The right
of tenants were not recognized in law or practice. Land tenure
was tenuous, dependent upon the will of the jagirdars or the
zamindars . The landlord's share varied between fifty and sixty
percent of the gross produce and was paid in kind, which is
known as batai (share). In addition, the landlords exacted
from their tenants abwab and haboob (levies and perquisities)
and also beaar (free-labor) .5 The demand for agriculture products
for industrial use in Britain required increased agricultural
production. This was achieved in the Punjab in the last quarter
4Mahmood Hassan Khan, Underdevelopment and Agrarian Structurein Pakistan. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1981), p. 129.
5 Ibid, p. 129.
14
of the 19th century by establishing an extensive system of canal
irrigation and by colonizing the waste lands. In these settlement
schemes the landless tenants and village artisans were not the
major beneficiaries. The British settlements gave birth to
an economic and political system which could not get Indian
society in general, and the peasantry in particular, out of
the morass of backwardness. This system provided a measure
of stability for colonial power to rule India.
6
Independent Pakistan After 1947
The political party and the leaders who spearheaded
the Pakistan movement and formed governments after independence
were mostly the landlords. The creation of Pakistan increased
the power of the landlords due to the departure of hindu money
lenders and the British administrators. Many landowners gained
additional lands, either by purchasing it at a nominal rate
from fleeing hindus or by influencing the revenue officials.
The Punjab had a predominantly landlord-tenants system in which
only a small proportion of tenants enjoyed occupancy rights.
The other land system, the owner-operated, was partly a product
of British settlement and partly a result of land colonization
schemes. The major problem of these farms, at least in the
central and northern districts, was their increasing fragmentation.
7
6 Ibid, p. 130.
7 Ibid, p. 141.
15
Land Utilization in Pakistan
and the Punjab
The total geographic area of Pakistan is 196.70 million
acres. In the year 1976-77, 133.4 million acres was arable
land. The cultivated areas however, were only forty-nine million
acres. The remaining areas are either under forest or cultivable
waste. The total area of the Punjab is fifty-one million acres.
The cultivated area in the Punjab is twentyeight million acres.
The pressure of population on cultivated land has increased.
Cultivated area per person decreased from 0.9 acres in 1959-60
to 0.7 acres in 1976-77, in Pakistan and in the Punjab.
8
Land Reforms in the Punjab
Although the landlords were the predominant group in
the leadership of the Muslim League, the political rhetoric
of the party included land reforms. Islam provided the political
ideology. Islamic egalitarianism, justice, and brotherhood
were the often repeated slogans on public plateforms.9 The
Punjab government was not willing to engage in land reform because
it would directly affect the people in power. The maximum they
did was the protection of the tenants against summary ejection.
Another law of the Punjab government abolished revenue-free
estates. The only change it brought about was that, like other
zamindars, the iaairdars would pay land revenue to the state.
8 Ibid, p. 22.
9 Ibid, p. 134.
16
Landlordism remained intact, for there was no limit to the area
of land one could own as long as the owner paid legal dues (land
revenue and water rates) to the government. 10
Nation Wide Land Reforms Including the Punjab
The tension between the landlords and the tenants was
increasing and the efforts to push a law through the legislature
was not very successful. Therefore, the Federal Government
promulgated the laws covering the entire country and these laws
were Martial Law Regulations or Ordinances. The objectives
of the land reforms were:ll
1) Realization of social justice and to ensure the
survival of values which brough Pakistan into existence;
2) Removal of institutional defects in the agrarian
structure to raise agricultural production;
3) To increase production and truly lay down the foundations
of a relationship of honour and mutual benefit to
the landowner and tenants.
There were three land reforms in Pakistan which were
enacted in 1959, 1972 and 1977. The reforms of 1959 prescribed
500 acres irrigated or 1,000 acres unirrigated or 36,000 Produce
Index Units (PIUs) , whichever was greater as the ceiling. The
10 Ibid, p. 142.
11Abdul Qayyum, "Policies and Implementation of Land Reforms:Macro-Level Study for Pakistan" in Land Reform: Some Asian Experi-ences, ed. Inayatullah (Kuala Lumpur: Asian and Pacific DevelopmentAdministration Centre, 1980), p. 66-67.
17
compensation, in the form of bonds redeemable after twenty-five
years, was paid for the excess land resumed. 12 in addition,
an individual was allowed up to 150 acres (6,000 PIUs) as orchards,
some area for homestead and could transfer up to 18,000 PIUs
to his heirs and up to 6,000 PIUs each to his female dependents.
The minimum ceiling with the exemptions would allow a landlord
to retain in his family 2,000 to 3,000 acres of irrigated land. 13
The tenants were given the first priority to purchase
up to fifty acres. The small owners were also given the option
to purchase the land to up grade their individual holdings to
a "subsistance holding" (12.5 acres) or to an economic holding
(25 acres). The tenants purchasing such land had to pay for
it in twenty-five annual installments.
In 1972, the ceiling was reduced to 12,000 PIUs or 150
acres irrigated or 300 acres unirrigated land. No compensation
was to be paid and the cultivating tenants were to be allocated
the land without any price. All exemptions in favor of orchards,
livestock, and stud farms and the like were eliminated. The
only exemption was in favor of an owner who had adopted mechanization
for whom a higher ceiling of 14,000 PIUs was permitted. 14
The reforms of 1977 further reduced the ceiling to 8,000
PIUs or 100 irrigated acres or 200 unirrigated acres, whichever
12Term used in Pakistan for the land surrendered by thelandlords to be allocated to the landless.
13 Khan, Under Development and Agrarian Structure in Pakistan .
p. 158-159.
14 Inayatullah, Land Reform: Some Asian Experiences , p. 69.
18
was greater. An important new feature was that compensation
for surrendered land was provided in the form of bonds redeemable
after ten years. However, the tenants were to continue to be
granted the taken-over land free of cost. 15
The grantees who became subsistence owners were only
0.83 percent of small farmers and the area they received was
only 2.6 percent of the area under pre-existing small farmers. 16
These land reforms have not changed the landlord-tenant system
and there is no visible change in the traditional social organization
in the rural Punjab.
Summary
In the Punjab the land tenure system changed from the
state tenant in the Mughal period to the right of private land
ownership during the British period. This change created generally
two classes in the rural Punjab, the landowners and the tenants.
Only a small portion of tenants enjoyed occupancy rights while
most of them were at the mercy of the landlords and could be
ejected summarily without any right to defend themselves. The
land reforms were aimed at removing the institutional defects
in the agrarian structure and sought to lay down the foundation
of a relationship of honour and mutual benefit, which eventually
would raise agricultural production. The reforms had high ceilings
on individual landholding and there were also exemptions allowing
the landlords to retain in their families much more land than
ISlbid, p. 70.
16 Ibid, p. 79.
19
generally suggested by the ceiling prescriptions. In short,
the reforms could not effectively change the landlord-tenant
relationship.
CHAPTER 3
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The colonial system of administration established by
the British had the primary purpose of collecting revenue and
maintaining law and order. The gap between bureaucracy and
the rest of the society was quite wide. It had authoritarian
hierarchical control on the people through command and directives.
The unit of operation was a district with a population between
one to five million. The head of the district wields immense
power and authority. In official terms he was a public servant,
but in reality his behavior towards the people was paternalistic.
This very system continued after independence as the
new state had tremendous problems of law and order and rehabil-
itation. 17 The efforts of the government of Pakistan to promote
development through economic planning and large scale projects
have not taken into consideration the basic social structure
of the society. Rising per capita income, increasing administrative
efficiency, and mounting political vitality may be regarded
as the sign of development. The essence of development is increasing
autonomy, the ability to choose among alternatives for more
17 Inayatullah, "Local Administration in a Developing country:The Pakistan Case" in Development Administration in Asia , ed. EdwardW. Weidner (Durham: Duke University Press, 1970), p. 282.
20
21
freedom, justice, security, and the basic integrity of man as
a human being. 18
The village is a terminal unit of administration having
operational linkage with the federal, state, and local government.
These three levels of the administrative units are both complementary
and competitive to achieve different societal goals. The local
government institutions in the Punjab can be classified into
three categories.
1) Administrative organ
2) Cooperative organ
3) Private voluntary organ
Administrative Organ
This organ reaches the village and rural community through
district, tehsil, union council, and village levels of government
with their hierarchy of officials. For collection of government
revenue and public administration the commissioners are located
at the divisional level, the deputy commissioner at the district
level, the tehsildar (head of tehsil level civil administration)
at the tehsil level, and the patwari (revenue collecting officer)
at the village level. The patwari is assisted by a numberdar
(headman) and a chokidar (watchman) of the village. Similarily,
the police administration has a superintendent of police at
the district level and a station house officer (S.H.O.) at the
18Fred W. Riggs, "The Ideas of Development Administration",in Development Administrat ion in Asia , ed. Edward W. Weidner(Durham: Duke University Press, 1970), p. 27.
22
thana level. Several thanas comprise a tehsil. The tehsil
headquarters is located in important townships and localities.
Similarly, health, education, cooperative, agriculture, irrigation,
animal husbandry, and other development departments of the government
have their links established with the village through their
district, subdivisional or tehsil, and village level officials.
Depending upon the extensiveness of the contracts that must
be established with local residents and the job responsibilities
of various department offices, government officials are located
in villages and at the respective headquarters of thanas, union
councils, tehsils, and/or districts.
Cooperative Organ
Rural cooperatives were started during the British period
to encourage mutual help, thrift, and gradual accumulation of
capital by the corporization. They have been utilized for organizing
farm services and for dealing with the market and the government.
Private Voluntary Organ
Some farmers and their families form informal associations
to help each other in their jobs. They save some money by a
nominal contribution by each member every week or so. Women
usually are very active in this, which helps buy bigger home
items or farm equipment. These organizations are quite scattered
and transitory, though sometimes they are quite active and effective.
23
District Administration and
Socio-Economic Development
There are twenty-one districts in the Punjabis varing
in size, population, topography, and their level of industrial-
ization and urbanization. Three or four districts grouped together
make a division. The districts are created primarily for the
purpose of revenue administration. A district has normally
thirty-two departments including civil administration, development
departments, and welfare organizations. Some reforms carried
out in 1955 and 1962 decentralized administrative functions
by creating some semi-autonomous public corporations in the
fields of industry, agriculture, water and power development,
and transportation. 20
Local Self-Government
The System of Basic Democracies
The existence of the punchayat (seeking agreement through
consultation) system of village administration is very old in
the Punjab. The British government attempted to develop village
councils. Punchavats must be constituted with petty civil and
criminal jurisdiction and responsibility for village sanitation,
education, and minor public works. In the Punjab, this reform
was introduced through the Punjab Punchayats Act of 1912. However,
it was not until after World War I that this legislation became
19Government of Pakistan, Population Census organization,Housing and Population Cens us of Pakistan (Provisional Tables)1980-81 . 1981, p. 3-4.
20 Inayatullah, Development Administration in Asia , p. 307.
24
effective. Despite some good work the punchayats failed to
create a sense of belonging for the villagers. In 1930, the
emphasis was shifted to rural reconstruction and uplift. This
emphasis was the predecessor of the community development program.
The program achieved some success in material terms but the
growth of local level democratic institutions could not happen
due to strong district administration. The promise of the emergence
of political responsibilities at the local level thus remained
unfilfilled, and local bodies, especially in rural areas were
hardly more than a mere appendage of the district administration.
Even after the creation of Pakistan, the colonial attitude of
administration remained unchallenged. The formal and informal
contacts between the district administration and the public
were limited and were circumscribed by a psychological environment
which did not permit two way communication. Whatever little
communication existed was through the upper rural class whose
interests did not always harmonize with the remaining rural
society.
Pakistan's Village Agricultural and Industrial Development
(V-AID) in 1954 was the first attempt to draw villagers into
the policy orientation and local decision-making process. The
process was later institutionalized through the structure created
in the Basic Democracies Order of 1959. Tiers of local councils
corresponding to the fourfold distribution of administrative
levels were established as a setting within which government
administrators and a limited number of elected representatives
were able to meet to work out joint planning and implementation
25
of development goals. The lowest rung of the ladder is the
union council which consists solely of elected officials.
Some of their chairmen are appointed to the higher tiers of
councils at the tehsil, district, and divisional levels. The
Union Council consists of ten to twelve members elected by adult
franchise. The union councils have a number of functions both
compulsory and optional. Councils perform routine civic duties
such as street lighting and sanitation, building of roads, dis-
pensaries, and engage in the promotion of agricultural and other
local development activities. The chairman and some members
further act as a tribunal to settle petty local disputes and
offenses. The chairman also administers the Family Law Ordinance
which regulates divorce and second marriages. The union council
enjoys the power of local taxation.21
The Rural Cooperatives
Pakistan's experience with cooperatives in areas other
than credit has been mixed but hardly successful in solving
rural problems. The cooperative organizations claim to have
utilized public and private funds to provide infrastructure
such as roads, irrigation, and storehouses. Nevertheless, a
comparison with similar, and often better, developments in the
surrounding villages that fall outside the scope of these cooper-
21Norman K. Nicholson and Dilawar Ali Khan, Basic Democraciesand Rural Development in Pakistan . (Ithaca, Rural DevelopmentCommittee, Cornell University, 1974), p. 77.
26
atives leads one to treat these claims with caution. 22 service
cooperatives under the control of the union council chairmen
have, however, succeeded in popularizing the use of chemical
fertilizer during early 1960's. The success of cooperative
in pilot projects can not be seen as acceptance of these organiz-
ations by the rural society. In view of the individualistic
nature of the farm population when involved in any formal economic
undertaking, especially in the Punjab, and in light of the capi-
talistic orientation that has emerged from several generations
of commercialized agriculture, cooperatives do not seem well
suited to the Pakistani ethos. 23
Politics of Administration
Whether under democratically elected governments or
the military government, the real power has always been in the
hands of the civil bureacracy. The four powerful actors of
the socio-economic and political realm in Pakistan are bureaucrats,
military, urban elites engaged in commerce and industry, and
rural landed elites. The people (masses) never had the chance
of controlling their own affair. These four classes mentioned
above are interconnected by the membership of some clubs, other
social organizations, and even marriages. Their mutual interest
is to keep their control on decision making institutions .
They tend to resist any reforms under the pretext of slump in
22ibid, p. 82.
23 Ibid, p. 84.
27
the growth or the internal or external danger to the integrity
of the country. If they must concede to any reform, they have
tremendous ability to delay the implementation and thawart the
reform.
Summary
The people of the Punjab in general and rural people
in particular are suppressed people and they have no input in
the decision taken by the administration for their 'welfare 1.
The Basic Democracies system of the election at the union council
level provided them a small outlet to express their opinion.
Although almost invariably bigger landowners were elected as
the chairmen whose interests were different from the general
people but still there were nominated civil servants to control
the Union, Tehsil and District Councils. Even this seemingly
harmless experiment was not acceptable to the bureacracy and
there were no election or reformation of the councils since
1965. The latest election of the council was held in 1979.
The author has no access to the results of these elections to
know the socio-economic and political background of the elected
representatives. There is very little possibility that these
elections would be any different from the previous ones.
The bureaucracy is faithfully guarding the colonial
legacy of paternalism by keeping the people out of any decision
making process. Military, capitalist, socialist, or religious
political affiliation of the ruling party does not seem to make
any dent in this policy.
CHAPTER 4
RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE PUNJAB
A review of the earlier approaches to rural development
may provide some guidelines and lessons for future efforts in
this direction. A brief overview of these programs is, therefore,
provided below:
Village Aid (1952-1969)
The village Agriculture and Industrial Development Program
(V-AID) launched in 1952 was supported with the U.S. assistance
in the form of training, personnel, and supplies. The development
areas had a population of about 100,000 and a staff of between
twenty-five and thirty village workers. Work under the program
consisted of organizing the people, building physical infrastructure
and the dissemination of improved agricultural practices.
Multisubject village level workers provided technical
guidance. The village - AID program had an edge over the line
departments in terms of staff and facilities, and was comprehensive
enough to cover different aspects of rural life. This led to
serious interdepartmental rivalries. The village aid worker
was to rely on the technical assistance of the line departments
but such assistance was very rare. The village aid workers
were not given the status and security associated with a permanent
position and therefore, the technical departments and high civil
28
29
servants were in a strong position to sabotage the village programs.
The village aid program also lacked clear goals and objectives
and with the passage of time it became more and more involved
with agriculture, but still was ill equipped to give adequate
attention to agricultural development. The technical require-
ments were beyond the technical competence of the poorly trained
village level worker who was, unfortunately, also not well supported
by the line department.
Despite the limitations of staff and interdepartmental
jealousies, Village-AID did achieve some success in the provision
of social and physical infrastructure and aroused community
interest in development activities. Its gains were not equitably
distributed primarily because of the unequal distribution of
land and heavy administrative control shifting the balance towards
rural elite. The program was abolished in 1961, primarily on
account of the withdrawal of U.S. aid.
Basic Democracies
The program was started in 1959 to combine the element
of community development with political development and to create
representative local bodies at four different levels. The lowest
unit was a union council consisting of a group of contiguous
villages. There were about ten elected members in a union council
who elected a chairman from among themselves. The higher level
of the councils (Tehsil Council, District Council, and Divisional
Council) were dominated by the nominated or official members.
30
At the district and divisional council level even the elected
representatives (elected to a lower level council) had to be
nominated for their membership in these councils.
The union councils performed various socio-economic
development activities, primarily education, agriculture, health
and sanitation, and the provision of infrastructure like roads.
The union councils were given some limited judicial and taxation
powers. The four tiers of local government were hierarchically
arranged and the higher tier enjoyed regulatory powers over
the lower one in development function. The projects were initiated
at the union council level and approved at the district level,
though they were submitted through the Tehsil Council. The
deputy commissioner was the chairman of the District Council
and half of the members of the council were the district level
officers of various departments who were under his direct authority.
Even the elected members of the District Council were selected
by the deputy commissioner from the list of the recommended
persons by the chairmen of the Tehsil Councils. The chairmen
of the Tehsil Council was the sub-divisional officer, an appointed
official. Under such circumstances only those programs which
had the blessing of the deputy commissioner could be approved
and implemented. The target fixing was often characterized
by the top-down approach, with elected members frequently coming
from the rural elites. People's participation was merely confined
to voting and electing their councillors. The activities of
the councillors were marred by personal greed and factionalism
based on caste groups.
31
The union councils were however, quite effective in
settling local disputes. Nicholson and Dilawar reported settlement
of 5,994 civil cases and 2,757 criminal cases during 1963-64
by a sample of 397 union councils in various parts of the country. 24
Agriculture Development Corporation (1961-1972)
The Agricultural Development Corporation was set up
in 1961 for the development of agriculture. The Board of Directors
of the Corporation was a management body, responsible for the
implementation of programs and policies already determined either
by the provincial or central government. This was carried out
in line with the centralized planning adopted by the government
of Pakistan. All the development projects were sent to the
provincial government and planning commission. After their
approval and the allocation of funds, the development schemes
were put into practice, which, it appears, negated the principles
of flexibility and freedom underlying the establishment of the
Agricultural Development Corporation.
The 'project areas' declared by the corporation were
the areas allotted to the military and civilian bureaucracy
as a reward for their meritorious service to the nation. The
local population naturally had the feeling of alienation. A
large percentage of people who had been working in the corporation
were deputationists (official of a department delegated to serve
24west Pakistan Union Councils; Evaluation Report 1964-65 .
cited by Abdul Salam, Rural Development and Local Leval Planningin Pakistan (Nagoya: United Nation Centre for Regional Development1982), p. 19.
32
in another department or organization) from other departments
who brought with them old values and practices which were not
in tune with the requirement of development. 25
The corporation succeeded in establishing an effective
supply line of fertilizer and seed through its sale depots.
It introduced and encouraged the entrance of private enterprise
in these ventures. It also succeeded in the development of
land which had been laying idle for considerable periods.
However, the corporation was another arm of bureaucracy,
which primarily confined its activities to the provision of
agricultural inputs and management of state farms, thus having
all the characteristics of a top-down organization. 26 in 1972,
the Agricultural Development Corporation was abolished and a
similar organization, the Agricultural Supplies Corporation
was started.
Integrated Rural Development Program
The Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) in Pakistan
was launched in 1972. The underlying philosophy of the program
is that all aspects of rural life are integrated. The IRDP
is meant to establish institution of local government and admin-
istration. The IRDP markaz (center) would become the basic
unit of local government administration. Each village selects
a leadership council through elections. The local government
institutes, like the village and union councils, were not functioning
25ibid, p. 21.
26 Ibid, p. 21.
33
until 1979. The markaz is now a representative organization
for about five union councils. The leadership of 50-60 then
confederate to form the IRDP center. There are twenty-one districts
in the Punjab, which has a population of about forty-seven million. 27
Each markaz covers about 100,000 cultivated acres and perhaps
about 100,000 people. 28
The IRDP approach is to appoint a local project manager
through whose office all government department activities are
to be funnelled and coordinated so as to reach the rural farmers.
Whenever a farmer comes to the facility for his requirement
for seed, fertilizer, implements, tractor services, irrigation,
credit; he does not have to go to one place for one service
and another place for another service. They are all available
to him there at the project facility.
A most important aspect of IRDP is to involve the people
themselves in the development process. In this regard a system
of multi-purpose cooperative societies has been established
at the village level, and administered through the IDRP centers.
The chairman of each society is elected by the society members.
The manager is a paid public servant appointed by provincial
development authority.
The uniformity of the programs undertaken in different
IRDP centres reveal very little true participation of people
27Qovernment of Pakistan, Housing and Population Censusof Pakistan. 1980-81 . p. 1.
28Muhammed Naseem, "The Role of Local Institutions inRural Development" in Rural Development in Pakistan ed. RichardA. Stanford, (Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 1980) p. 77.
34
in decison making and it remained basically an official top-down
activity. Also cooperative societies are considered to be in-
effective, graft ridden and cliquish organizations. They have
very little credibility among people. 29
People's Works Program
The People's works program was launched in 1972 with
two basic objectives of providing infrastructure and reducing
unemployment of the rural masses. Small labor intensive projects
were launched to achieve these objectives.
The projects undertaken by the People's Works program
were small and widely scattered, therefore the impact of the
program is not very visible. The program however, satisfied
some local needs such as roads and water supply. 30
Rural Development Organization
The IRDP and PWP have been merged and the resultant
institution is named Rural Development Organization. With the
participation of the union councils, the responsibility of this
new organization, created in 1977, is to undertake programs
related to farm-to-market roads, drinking water supply, primary
education, basic health facilities, and village sanitation. 31
29 Salam, Rural Development and Local Level Planning inPakistan, p. 22.
30 Ibid, p. 23.
31Akhtar, ed. Pakistan Year Book. 1982-83 . p. 332.
35
This new institutional framework is based on a three-tier system.
At the lowest level there is the union council with about ten
villages. The middle tier is markaz with about fifty to a hundred
villages, while the district council forms the coordinating
tier. With the purpose of securing popular participation in
the rural development activities, the elections to the local
bodies were held in September 1979.32
Conclusion
A perusal of various programs implemented reveal that
successive programs have not benefitted from the experience
of previous ones and a sense of continuity has therefore been
missing. Every new program tried to reflect a sharp break with
the past in order to claim credit for the new developments,
which may not be a healthy precedent to set in the complex and
painful process of development. All these programs, invariably,
suffered from top-down and centralized planning reflected in
the uniformities of various activities undertaken. These programs
failed to set up effective local level institutions through
which people could articulate their demand and actively participate
in planning and implementing various projects. 33
32ibid, p. 333.
33 Salam, Rural Development and Local Level Planning inPakistan, p. 24.
CHAPTER 5
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
THEORIES AND MODELS
In the Punjab, before and after independence, there
has always been some rural development agency with a mandate
and sufficient funds for initiating rural development. The
objectives of rural development in all the "Five-Year Plans"
of the Government of Pakistan included among others "to create
an institutional framework for ensuring community participation
in the implementation of the Rural Development Programme" . 34
The government intended to reduce and in the long run eliminate
major income inequalities among different regions. Various
theories and models tried in the Punjab are listed in the following
text.
Central Place Theory
Walter Christaller, in suggesting this theory stated
that "the chief Profession of a town is to be the center of
34
Government of Pakistan, Planning Commission, 5th FiveYear Plan 1980-85. 1978, p. 185.
36
37
a region. "35 The theory refers to the 'functions* located in
the central places that are completely determined by local demand.
It specifically refers to the retail center, not wholesale functions,
manufacturing, mining or related activities.
The settlement pattern during the Mughal period was
influenced by the creation of the saraey (Inn) towns which were
the bastions of the area chiefs. They were established to maintain
law and order, insure uninterupted movement of mail, and exchange
goods and services. The Mughals developed an extensive road
system and a saraey existed every twenty to thirty miles. The
condition of 'perfect competition* was satisfied by the flat
land and agrarian economy. There were only a few large cities,
quite widely separated, offering high order goods and services.
The introduction of the civil and military bureaucracy
by the British and the division of the Punjab into administrative
units; Division, District, and Tehsil changed the previous pattern.
The town which was the administrative seat provided opportunities
for economic specialization. Another very important change
which disturbed the perfect competitive condition and helped
the evolution of the marketing system was the introduction of
the railroad in the Punjab. England needed raw material. To
facilitate their collection and transportation, many market
towns were established at the railroad terminals. This condition
35 Frank W. Young, Interdisciplinary Theories of RuralDevelopment . (London: JAI Press Inc., 1983), p. 66. For fullreference, see Walter Christaller, Central Places in SouthernGermany , trans. Carlisle W. Baskin (Englewood Cliffs: PrenticeHall, 1966.)
38
of imperfect competition form a pattern of 'solar' central places.
The lower-level centers are not interstitially placed as they
are in competitive central place hierarchies, so the market
areas tend to be elliptic. Due to the political and economic
control the trade flows to one large market.
After colonization, the British took away the powers
of the local chiefs and did not involve them in the administration.
These chiefs lost administrative power but still they commanded
authority and power among their people. In order to make use
of their status, the British made them the owners of land and
gave them power over the tenants and sharecropper. According
to Weber, the domination of the society by an elite stratum
leads to the stratification of differences among groups in the
society. 36 The elites (landowners) often lived in the market
town and the peasants lived in the villages. The superior knowledge
available to the urban elites help them to maintain their position.
The central place advocate thought that pinpointing the crucial
market town and investing in it would bring development to the
whole region. Theoretically it might be correct but it has
not proved to be correct in the Punjab. Dual economy and the
elites were dominant to subvert reforms for the development
of rural areas.
36 Craig R. Humphrey and Fredrick R. Buttel, Environment.Energy, and Society . (Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company,1982), p. 16. For details see Max Weber, Essays in Sociology .
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1946), pp. 302-322.
39
Rational-Comprehensive Planning
The advocates of Rational-Comprehensive planning believe
that the technician and planners are the only persons capable
of solving any problem. Synoptic planning typically looks at
problems from a systems viewpoint, using conceptual or mathematical
models relating ends (objectives) to means (resources and con-
straints) , with heavy reliance on numbers and quantitative analysis.
Synoptic planning largely ignores or avoids issues of conflict
by referring to a unitary concept of public interest. 37
In the Punjab, the political struggle for independence
by the landlords and the control of turmoil by establishing
law and order after independence by the civil and military bureau-
crats earned much respect and legitimized their roles. The
security interest in view of the threats from India lead to
the concentration of power among bureaucrats. The political
instability and the power struggle among the political leaders
in fact shifted the balance of power in favor of the bureaucrats
and they became the real rulers in the Punjab. The politicians
and the bureaucrats were interested in developing the country
through efficiency in production. Equality in distribution
was thought to be inefficient. It was believed that with the
growth in the economy the distributive question will not surface.
The doctrine of unequal development made way for the adoption
of the Spatial-Functional policy of development.
3 7Barclay M. Hudson, "Comparison of Current Planning Theories:Counterparts and Contradictions" JAIP 45:4 (October 1979): 393.
40
Spatial-Functional Policy
During the 1950s and 1960s the government economic policy
was primarily concerned with the industrialization program.
With the importation of large quantities of wheat the government
held farm prices down in order to stem inflationary pressure.
The subnational territorial unities were dissolved in 1955 making
the West Pakistan into 'One Unit' instead of four provinces,
the Punjab, the N.W.F.P., Sind, and Baluchistan. By the middle
of the 1960s the rate of economic growth was more than double
the rate of population growth. However, rural income disparities
have increased considerably. 38 The urban based industrialization
was believed to create enough employment even to change the
man-land ratio in the rural areas which would lead to modernization
of the rural areas. This all out race for industrialization
paved the way for the entry of multi-national corporations in
Pakistan. The industries were concentrating in Karachi (Sind)
and Lahore (Punjab) in the corridor development pattern along
major transportation routes, sometime leading up to forty miles.
The tax incentives and other favors to the industrialists, raised
the GNP but the balance was in their favor. The natural outcome
of capitalist development was concentration of wealth, the polar-
ization of social classes, and the growth of class consciousness.
This was the beginning stage of revolution which lead to the
38Robert D. Stevens, "Themes in Economic Growth and SocialChanges in Rural Pakistan: An Introduction" in Rural Developmentin Bangladesh and Pakistan , ed Robert Stevens, Hamiza Alvi,Peter J. Bertocci, (Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii,1976), p. 193.
41
separation of the East Pakistan and dismembering of the 'One
Unit' in West Pakistan in 1970-71. Pakistan in general and
the rural areas in particular, were presenting the picture of
the 'peripheries' dependent on 'core' regions of the developed
countries and the developed urban areas.
Dependency Theory
Douglass North39 formulated and Export-Base Model in
which two regions traded with one another. One region being
the exporter of the consumer goods and the other of the primary
goods. It is theorized that the economic growth of the primary
producer is induced by the existing demand in the economically
more powerful region. Andre Gunder Frank40 referred to the
economic relations between the metropolis and its economic colonies
and named it "The Development of Underdevelopment". Dependency
Theory explains the way a few capitalist countries have been
able to limit and control the economies of a great many dependent
countries. The theory shows that such relations also exist
within a country or region where the 'core' dominates the periphery
through the power of the bureaucracy and the elites. The hinderance
in the effective implementation of the land reforms and the
provision of inf rastructural utilities and facilities in the
39Douglas C. North, "Location Theory and Regional EconomicGrowth" in Regional Policy: Reading in Theory and Applications ,
ed. John Friedmann and William Alonso (Cambridge: The MIT Press,1975), pp 332-347.
40A.G. Frank, "The Development of Underdevelopment" inImperialism and Underdevelopment , ed. Robert I. Rhodes (NewYork: Monthly Review Press, 1970), pp 4-17.
42
rural Punjab is the manifestation of such dominance. The much
talked of 'Green Revolution* helped in increasing the overall
yield per acre but the balance was in favor of big landowners.
They had easy access to inputs like capital, machinery, water,
fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides.
The logic of unequal development was based on the belief
that the growth impulses would spread from the major centers
to the remainder of the economy. This focus on polarized development
and trickle down affects lead to the doctrine of growth centers
and growth poles.
Growth Pole Policy
The idea of the growth centers originated with Francois
Perroux whose original notion of growth pole was intended to
convey a non-spatial polarization of the economy which had a
great deal in common with the problems of inter-industry linkage
and multiplier effects. 41 The policy is based on the observation
that larger cities are the vehicles of regional growth in European
countries. The idea is that the industries which have high
growth potential are likely to stimulate other secondary industries
to have an impact on a metropolitan city and its hinterland.
The process of development is one of trickling down or spread
effects. This theory has been widely applied in Africa, Asia,
and Latin America. In Pakistan, Karachi, Lahore and Hydrabad
41Frank W. Young, Interdisciplinary Theories of RuralDevelopment, pp. 55-58. For full details of growth poles see,Francis Perroux, "Notes on the Concept of 'growth poles* inRegional Economics ed. David McKee et al. (New York: FreePress, 1970) , pp. 93-103.
43
assumed status of the growth centers. The basic idea is that
declaring a certain city or town as the growth center and injecting
investment in the form of infrastructure and industries would
help enhance development in less developed regions. Working
on this assumption, the government of the Punjab built four
new cities in the relatively less developed region of the Punjab.
The industries, like cement, sugar, fertilizer, pesticides,
and textiles were established to make use of the raw materials
and the produce of these regions. This did not alter the growth
pattern. Karachi and Lahore were attracting capital and human
resource while the new towns were stagnant and were surviving
on government grants and assistance. The only change that these
new towns and industry brought was the migration of some people
from rural areas to these new settlements. The government of
the Punjab has not learned anything from this failure. Instead
they have extended the growth pole doctrine to the rural areas
by the establishment of the markaz in some designated towns.
As earlier discussed in chapter four the markaz centers are
not helping to diffuse development in the rural areas.
The efforts of the past thirty-seven years after independence
to develop and improve the quality of life for the masses based
on synoptic planning and spatial-functional policy have resulted
in separation of East Pakistan, breaking of the 'One Unit',
and billions of dollars in debts. The poor and landless are
the worst sufferers in the rural Punjab, although the condition
of small farmers is not any better. It is time that serious
consideration be given to socio-economic development with the
44
people as the prime actors and recipients of the benefits.
The planning and implementation of rural development programs
should involve adequate regional planning, strong central coordi-
nation, effective local level organization, and the participation
of rural people in the planning and implementation processes.
The bureaucratically dominated schemes may have increased
the GNP but they have plunged the country into deep dependency.
The development program for the peasant farmers has not reached
the target people. Aid and subsidies could produce dependents
and parasites, but not the people who have self respect and
esteem to better their social and physical conditions. The
government should change its policy of command, centralized
control, and project implementation. The government should
umpire, guide, facilitate and promote the participation of the
rural people to organize themselves for their own better future.
Friedmann and Weaver have proposed a new theory called
the Agropolitan Approach. The agropolitan theory has not been
tried yet but the author feels that there is a possibility that
its application could resolve the problems discussed in chapter
one. The salient features of the theory are listed below.
Agropolitan Theory
This theory focuses on the issues of meeting the basic
needs of the rural people through a transactive planning approach
involving the people in the decision-making process. The development
should be organized on a territorial basis, making efforts to
expand and diversify the production resources. Friedmann and
45
Weaver state that suitable condition for the application of
the policy is:
"densely populated agrarian societies character-
ized by low profiles of social development, high
rate of population increase, incipient urban-based
industrialization, high external dependency and
rising indices of inequality. "42
The major elements of the agropolitan approach are:
1) The Basic Conditions For its Realization
2) The Territorial Framework
3) The Expansion of Production
4) The Role of the State
The Basic Conditions
Selective territorial closure, commercialization of
productive wealth, and the equalization of the access to the
bases for the accumulation of social power are the three conditions
essential to successful agropolitan development.
Selective Territorial Closure
This refers to a policy of enlightened self-reliance
at a relevant level of territorial integration: district, region
and a nation. Self-reliance means to rely less on outside aid
and investment, to involve the masses in development, to initiate
a conscious process of social learning, to diversify production,
42Friedmann and Weaver, Territory and Function: The Evolutionof Regional Planning. (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Universityof California Press, 1979), p. 194.
46
and to pool resources. 43 it is an expression of faith in the
abilities of a people to guide the forces of their own evolution.
It means to rely less on outside aid and investment, to involve
the masses in development, to initiate a conscious process of
social learning. 44
The Communalization of the Productive Wealth
The use of land and the water which are principal means
of production in a rural area should be controlled by the community
to meet the basic needs of its members. The benefit should
be divided equally for everyone in the community. 45
The Equalization of Access For
The Accumulation of Social Power
The people should be involved on the basis of equality
in decision making about the social and economic affairs of
their community.
The Territorial Framework
The agropolitan districts may be demarcated on the basis
of common cultural, political, and economic attributes. Agropolitan
districts are the smallest of these territorial units that are
still capable of providing for the basic needs of their inhabitants
with only marginally important resource transfers from outside.
43 Ibid, p. 195
44 Ibid, p. 195
45 Ibid, p. 195
47
This district may be designated to have a total population of
between 15,000 and 60,000.46
The Expansion of Production
Strengthening the territorial ecomony by self-reliance
in the management of economic affairs and diversifying the ter-
ritorial economy. Diversification in rural agropolitan districts
will, at a minimum, require electric energy, radio and telephone
communication, regular water supply, and year-round all-weather
transport to other areas. 47
The Role of the State
The role of the State is protective, developmental,
f acilitative, regulatory and redistributive. It is protective
by securing territorial boundries; developmental by coordinating
national policies for the benefit of each agropolitan district;
facilitative through its own resources to support; regulatory
by maintaining the critical balances within the system of social
relationships; and redistributive that it takes the surplus
resources from rich districts to equalize redevelopment possibil-
ities in less favoured areas. 48
46 Ibid, p. 197.
47 Ibid, p. 198.
48 Ibid, p. 203.
48
Summary
The agropolitan theory with its stress on decentralization
of decision making process, reliance on indigenous human and
material resources, and gradual relaxation of elite control
through diversification of economic base provides promising
prospects for the improvement of the quality of life for the
rural masses in the Punjab.
CHAPTER 6
PROPOSALS FOR THE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
IN THE PUNJAB
The foregoing discussion on the administrative structure,
land tenure system, and the programs and policies of the government
towards rural development has revealed that in order to have
an equitable quality of life for the rural Punjab, there is
need to alter not only the land tenure system but the entire
social structure, including bringing about administrative decentral-
ization. Democratically constituted local political authorities
capable of speaking for and acting on behalf of local people
will gradually bring about the change in the social structure.
Although the land reforms are not a prerequisite to the application
of the agropolitan model but the author feels that equitable
distribution of land will greatly enhance the process of change
and the development of rural areas.
Land Reform
The need is to reduce drastically the concentration
of land ownership, to regulate the tenancy rights on land, and
to develop a support system to make new owners economically
viable and socially stable. The concept of private property
is deeply embedded in Islamic ideology therefore, the communal
49
50
ownership by the state would not be accepted even by the landless
sharecropper.
The ceiling of individual and family ownership should
be defined in the produce index units (PIUs) for various regions
based on the fertility of the land. The family unit should
also be defined as a household consisting of husband, wife or
wives, and minor children. The adult children, especially if
they are married should not be included. The family holding
should not be more than twice the size of the individual holding.
This will create some incentive for smaller families. Also
related to land ceiling are exemptions and allowances. As a
matter of policy, no private individual or organization should
be given exemption in any form.
The yield of wheat and all other major crops is increasing
per unit of area in the Punjab because of the use of improved
varieties of seeds, the use of chemical fertilizer, and pesticide. 49
In view of this, it would be safely deduced that the area of
land which was subsistence unit (12.5 acres) in 1959 might have
become profitable in the eighties. It is therefore suggested
that the ceiling of the individual holdings should be twenty-five
acres of irrigated land and fifty acres of rain fed land. The
family ownership should be twice the size of individual holding.
A landholding of twenty-five acres might appear small, but it
49Khan, Under Development and Agrarian Structure in Pakistan ,
p. 63.
51
is five times as large as a subsistence holding for an owner
cultivator. 50
The tenant's lease period should be extended from one
year to five years to provide security against summary evictions.
The share of the landlord and tenants in gross produce should
be half and half. The landowner however, should be responsible
for the payment of water charges, equipment, and all taxes and
levies claimed by the state.
In six countries in Asia, the ceiling on the ownership
of land is not very high. In some parts of India it is as low
as two hectares (1 Hectare = 2.5 acres approximately). In Sri
Lanka, twenty-five acres is the limit. In the Philippines,
the limit is seven hectares. Bangladesh has fixed the land
ceiling at 33.3 acres, and in Korea the ceiling was fixed at
three hectares. 51
Administrative Reforms
The bureaucracy in Pakistan has enjoyed unchallenged
positions because they are better educated than the politicians
and the politicians are dependent on bureaucrats for securing
favours for their supporters. The bureaucracy has a tremendous
amount of state resources at its disposal by occupying all the
strategic, politically sensitive, and prestigious posts in the
50 Alavi, "The Rural Elite and Agricultural Developmentin Pakistan" in Rural Development in Bangladesh and Pakistan .
p. 339.
51 Injatullah, "Concluding Review" in Land Reform: SomeAsian Experiences, p. 394-96.
52
government. The bureaucracy has created a system which elevates
the generalist above the professional expert creating discrimination
and classification. Thus in both policy formulation as well
as in implementation, the bureaucracy in Pakistan played a more
decisive role than politicians holding formal ministerial positions
in the government, and it is precisely for this reason that
class character and the role of the bureaucracy needs to be
clearly delineated.
The present civil administration has both administrative
and judicial powers. There is therefore, an urgent need to
separate these functions. At the Union Council or the markaz
level, the line departments should have their representative
but their role should be advisory. The managerial positions
occupied by the generalists of the bureaucracy should be abolished.
The elected representative should be the manager in the 'bottom-up 1
process of organizational development. The farmers should assume
the major responsibilities for planning and constructing physical
facilities. Such changes are difficult and complex and they
take years to complete, but they are possible.
The Rural Development Organization
In the past, programs like the Village Aid Program,
Basic Democracies System and the Agricultural Development Corpor-
ation were launched to involve the people in the development
process through local government institutions. The programs
suffered from heavy administrative control and non-involvement
of the people in planning and implementing the rural development
53
activities. The Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP)
was introduced in 1977 to develop all the sectors of the rural
economy as the organic unit and involve the people in rural
development activities. Like previous programs, it remained
basically an official top-down activity. In 1977, it was merged
with the People's Works Program under the name of the Rural
Development Organization. This organization is essentially
technocratic in spirit and nature. From the uniformity of the
programs undertaken there appears little true reflection of
people's participation which should result from a direct involvement
of the people in designing and implementing the activities under
this program. The Local Bodies Election was held in September,
1979, to get the program supported by democratic forms of organiz-
ations where people could articulate their views, involve themselves
in planning and implementation of development activities at
"the grass roots level". 52 The Rural Development Organization
operates as a three-tier system: the Union Council, the markaz ,
and the District level. The markaz is the focus of all the
activities being a project service center where the institutions
could be physically located to link to the people in the surrounding
production area as a focal point of distribution, service, and
marketing activity. The District Level is for the purpose of
planning, organizing and monitoring the implementation of various
projects within the district. The responsibilities at the Union
52Government of Pakistan, Pakistan; An official Handbook.1978-79. "Local Government and Rural Development" (Islamabad,Government Printing Office, 1980), p. 43.
54
Council level have not been defined. Instead the activities
at the village level are vaguely defined in terms of the cooper-
ative societies providing a forum for discussing problems and
needs and distributing loans. 53 The project manager is a paid
public servant, appointed by provincial development authority.
The chairmen of each cooperative society elect a chairman for
their association who is supposed to initiate activities and
see them through to conclusion.
The agropolitan approach to development, incorporating
the ideas of self-management and basic needs, is a political
and therefore a territorial conception. The administrative
framework of the Rural Development Program could be retained
generally to apply to the agropolitan model. However, the choice
of the markaz as the focal point for organizing the rural development
in the Punjab should be critically evaluated.
The Markaz Level Organization
The administrative organization at the markaz level
has been discussed above and in chapter four. The immediate
impression that one gets is that:
1) The organization is strictly a 'top-down* admini-
stration with the Punjab government appointed public servant
as the project manager.
2) The people's participation is mere tokenism. The
elected chairman of the cooperative societies is probably a
53 Salam, Rural Development and Lo cal Level Planning inPakistan, p. 14.
55
member of the rural elite. The data on the 1979 local bodies
elected is not available but the past trend could be sufficient
to assume this. In the first constituent assembly (1947-54),
the landlords accounted for nearly sixty-five percent? in the
second constituent assembly (1955-56) the percentage was seventy-four
percent; in the election of April 1962, seventy-four percent
returned to the national assembly were landlords. In the 1970
election many of the tenants voted for Bhutto54, one of the
biggest landlords in Pakistan, on the basis of his promises
for land reforms.
3) The markaz is being treated as a 'growth pole' for
the surrounding rural area. The commercial and industrial develop-
ment of the markaz would convert it to an Agroville (service
town) for the entire area. The trouble with this concept is
that it has not worked in the past to spread the benefits of
the development.
4) The markaz area comprises of about forty to fifty
villages, and perhaps about 100,000 people. Given the inadequencies
of the transportation and communication facilities, the markaz
area constitutes a little too large unit for effective administration
and to meet the primary and secondary needs of villagers.
5) In the Punjab there are 2,240 Union Councils for
the rural area. 55 Each Onion Council comprises of about ten
54 Richard F. Nyrop, et. al., Area Handbook for Pakistan .
Foreign Area Studies of the American University (Washington,D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975), p. 232.
55Pakistan; An Official Handbook 1978-81 . p. 456.
56
villages. The responsibilities of the Union Council are not
clearly defined in the Rural Development Organization.
THE AGROPOLITAN APPROACH
The national power structure is dominated by the bureau-
cracy, the military, and the landlords. The power structure
at the provincial and local level is not very different from
the national level. The village is divided into various economic
and social classes/or strata. These strata are distinguished
by certain characteristics such as wealth, prestige, and power.
The elites maintain their power through the cultural values
and the customs that envelop rural life. The power of the elite
is broad in scope and stable overtime, exercised in the interest
of the elite itself and affiliated with a national elite. The
cliquish control through the biradaris (caste) is dominant and
was further enhanced through the voluntary association with
a cooperative group. The cooperative societies are adhoc functional
groups which could seldom be credited with local representatives-
ness. Whatever little benefits the IRDP confers, most likely
these are being appropriated by the middle and upper classes. 56
One of the basic conditions for agropolitan development is
the "equalization of access to the bases for the accumulation
56 M.A. Qadeer, "An Evaluation of the Integrated RuralDevelopment Programme", Monographs in the Economics of Development.No. 19 (Islamabad: Pakistan Institute of Development Economics,1977), p. 72.
57
of social power". 57 if the resources are distributed equally,
there would be no strata, no classes. This Utopian ideal is
impossible to achieve. However, there are two options for overcoming
the problem of unequal power in rural areas. The first one
is to reduce the powers of the landlords through a land reform.
The other one is through strengthening the community as an entity.
This could be achieved by the establishment of local organizations
responsible for the administration of the community, encouraging
the use of local resources through the concept of self-help.
The present focus of rural development, the markaz is not a
viable unit as discussed earlier in this chapter. The markaz
could be made compatible with the agropolitan district by limiting
its area of jurisdiction to twenty villages or two Union Councils.
The government of the Punjab started with nineteen centers.
The ultimate objective is to have about 500 IRDP centers58 i n
which case each markaz would comprise of four to five Union
Councils. Although it looks much better than the present nineteen
centers it is questionable whether the government would have
the material and human resources to maintain the present model
of the 'top-down' administrative and the rural 'growth-pole'
approach of trying to create artificial centers of prosperity
and development, an oasis in the desert. The two Union Councils
would be a rather congenial community, having certain things
57Friedmann and Weaver, Territory and Function, The Evolutionof Regional Planning , p. 195.
58 I.A. Imtiazi, "Rural Development Programs in Pakistan"in Rural Development in Pakistan , p. 68.
58
in common: economic interdependence, shared values, a means
of communication, and a governmental structure. The primary
objective of rural development or the agropolitan approach is
to develop the basic unit of rural society, a village in the
Punjab. The village government both contemporary, the village
council and the traditional punchayat (seeking agreement through
consulatation) system are heavily influenced by tradition, esta-
blished client relationships, and socioeconomic class. Any
departure from existing arrangements will be seen as a direct
threat to the traditional authority and will be fiercely resisted.
However, there is an utmost need to change this traditional
hold and distribute power equally among landless labor, minorities,
and possibly the women. The village council election should
be held on a territorial and social class basis. The village
might be divided into wards of about one thousand voters to
elect one representative and one representative each for the
landless and other minorities. This will provide a forum for
'have-nots 1 to sit at the same level with the landlords and
decide for their welfare. The inter-community and intra-community
competition and conflict among the groups for influence and
resources would be a very healthy sign and good media to let
everyone know their rights and obligations. The healthy competition
would provide incentive to do things on a self-help basis instead
of waiting for external help. In such an organization, there
would probably be no need for the government appointed officials
to manage the village level and the markaz organization. The
elected official would be able to manage these. The government
59
may however, prescribe some procedures and methods to maintain
records of proceedings, particularly earnings and expenditures.
The bureaucrats and the experts would definately object to such
an arrangement of giving administrative responsibility to incapable
and inexperienced people. The answer to such an objection is
that these people have been managing their lives and assets
for centuries and surviving against all the odds of bureaucratic
and elite pressure. Given the opportunity they will be able
to manage their affairs well. They will be responsible to the
electorate and could be thrown out of the office if the expectation
of the people are not met. No doubt that in the beginning there
would be some mistakes and misappropriation of funds, but the
best way to build the capacity of the farmers is by encouraging
them to assume major responsibility for planning and implementation.
The flow of vertical and horizontal communication between
public and private organizations is vital. The delegates from
each markaz should represent their interests. Planning and
other technical personnel should be attached to the markaz and
the village council in order to bring all possible formal knowledge
to bear on their decisions. The technical persons drawn from
the line departments of the provincial government agencies should
have no voting power. They should be coopted only when their
advice is required. The agropolitan units even though they
are autonomous, are not sovereign units. They are part of the
larger territorial system of the provincial and federal government
and therefore should work within the broad developmental policies.
60
The equalization of access to social power is vital
to agropolitan development. The above discussion focuses to
a greater extent on the size and physical area and the number
of elected representative representing the interest of those
not so well off in the society. This increase would reduce
elite control on the decision making institutions but their
economic power, the control of the means of production, which
in this case is the land, could heavily influence the decision
making process through elected puppets. In order to safeguard
against such possibilities there is need for economic diversity,
industrialization, competition, and change in the structure
of government. Economic Diversity could be achieved by encouraging
the farmers in poultry and sheep farming. Small and poor soil
holdings could be better utilized for such ventures and could
be more productive. It would also solve the nutrition problem
of the rural masses who at present can not afford meat and meat
products. The Industrialization here means agrobased small
industries which support the urban capital intensive industries.
The cotton ginning, food processing, vegetable oil extraction,
and canning could be some of the possible industries depending
upon the produce in the area. These industries should be labor
intensive to provide employment to the rural people. The artisans
and craftsmen of the Punjab were famous in producing artifacts
from wood, leather, wool, and clay. Taiwan and South-Korea
are utilizing the techniques of their craftsmen to export.
A little encouragement and standardization could revive these
crafts.
61
The competition between the incumbent and aspirant for
an elected position would encourage both to work for the betterment
of their people. The competition in development of infrastructure
and in other social and cultural activities make people proud
to score better than the others. This intra and inter village
or Union Council competition, would be a useful devise to accelerate
the pace of development.
The structure of the government should be a council-manager
form of government. The council should be the final decision
maker on the most fundamental policy issues in the community.
It should adopt the budget and pass the local laws. The council
should also have a vital policy making role in developmental
issues. The councils should be elected on the basis of the
wards or the villages. The chairperson for the Village council,
the Union council, and the markaz should be elected rather than
appointed. Such structures provide more public accountability.
The stoppage of the leakage ; the present system of banks
being the branches to the national banks transfer the saving
from the rural areas to the urban centers. Some system must
be devised so that the savings generated in a territorial unit
should be used for the development of that area.
The Role of the State
In social formations that are organized on the basis
of agropolitan principles, the role of the state is at once
protective, developmental, facilitative, regulatory, and redistri-
butive. The protective role reflects the maintenance of the
62
territorial boundaries against external and internal threats.
The developmental role refers to the coordination of the national
and local government policies. The state facilitates through
allocation of its own resources and regulates by maintaining
the system of social relationships that will permit both change
and growth to occur without excessive disruption of the system
as a whole. And it is distributive in that it takes surplus
resources from rich districts to enhance redevelopment possibilities
in less favoured areas. 59 The government of the Punjab and
the Federal government are aware of the problems in rural areas
and are making efforts to play the roles efficiently. A glimpse
of the Annual Development Program (1982-83) of the government
of the Punjab justifies this statement. Out of the total envisaged
expenditure, fifty-two percent has been made available to agri-
culture, education and health, while thirty percent of the total
is provided for the rural development, urban development, water
and communication. The main priorities in the agriculture section
include village and tube well electrification, construction
and repair of farm-to-market roads, improvement of water courses,
and provision of inputs like seeds, and equipment such as lift
pumps, diesel tubewells, and hand sprayers at subsidised rates.
In the health sector, the emphasis is on the strengthening and
expanding health services in the rural areas. Under the program,
twenty rural health centers and two hundred and fifty basic
health units would be completed during the year. The industrial
59Friedmann and Weaver, Territory and Function. The Evolutionof Regional Planning, p. 203.
63
sector has allocated sixty-four percent of its total allocation
for the small industries corporation. 60 The allocation by the
government has not produced the much desired results because
of the lack of the coordination between the policies at the
various levels of the government. Through the agropolitan approach
of decentralizing the decision making procedure and reducing
the power of the elite, it is hoped that more equitable quality
of life could be achieved for the rural masses.
SUMMARY
For the past thirty-seven years the government of the
Punjab has been making efforts to develop the rural areas and
improve the quality of life for the people. The emphasis has
been on economic development in general with a view that its
effects would trickle down to the rural masses. The efforts
have concentrated on the 'top-down' approach and the strong
bureaucratic control on the decision making process and the
methods of production. The Rural Development and the People
Work program, although initiated to shift the power to the people,
has not produced any tangible results because of the lack of
democratic institutions and the diversity of the economic and
social power. It is hoped that the agropolitan approach would
be able to achieve the much sought egalitarian development by
empowering the people to make decisions for their welfare.
60Akhtar, Pakistan Year Book 1982-83 . p. 358.
64
CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The bureaucratic control through synoptic planning has
created an environment where the masses feel that the development
is the sole responsibility of the government. The rural development
programs implemented in the Punjab promised to involve the people
in decision making process but the systematic exclusion of the
masses have made them skeptical and suspicious of the government's
efforts. The agropolitan model endeavours to change this attitude
by allowing them to participate in their welfare.
The agropolitan model for the rural development in the
Punjab is suggested for its emphasis on the importance of political
decision making, governance, and management at the territorial
level. By making these communities self-governing and the masters
of their destiny, the confidence would develop in the people
to handle things on their own i.e. on a self-help basis. They
would not be looking for help from the provincial and the federal
governments and grants to do even minor things like the upgrading
of a road or the repair and maintenance of the school, hospital
and any other such institution. The agropolitan model may not
be economic development efficient but the basic requirement
is not so much economic development but the development of social
and political ability of the people to shoulder and share respon-
sibilities. They are encouraged and required to be active members
65
in their communities by participation in decision making and
implementation processes.
As earlier discussed, the bureaucracy and the rural
elite are great hindrances in the reorganization and decentral-
ization process. They are not going to give away easily. In
the past they have resisted any such move saying it would result
in deceleration in economic growth and administrative efficiency.
Radical change in the system is neither possible nor desired.
Instead of adopting a collision course, it would be better to
take them along and reduce their political and economic power
through incremental changes. The diversification of agriculture
by introducing and encouraging the establishment of the livestock,
sheep, poultry farming and agro based industries would reduce
the dependence of the small farmers and the landless people
on the landlord for their survival. The change in the election
system of electing the representatives on a ward and minority
basis would provide the opportunity for the less privileged
to sit in the council (village or union) and defend their rights.
Land reforms although not a required ingredient for
the agropolitan approach would definitely assist in providing
the basic needs and establishing an egalitarian society. The
author, therefore, suggests twenty-five acres of irrigated land
and fifty acres of rain fed land as the ceiling for the individual
land holdings.
The bureaucracy is the real rulers in the Punjab and
Pakistan. Their position and status provides them with the
opportunities to enrich themselves by accepting gratituty from
66
industrialists and landowners by extending favours. Occasionally
the government owned lands are allocated to them for the outstanding
service rendered to the nation. This mechanism of social mobility
enlists them as a member of that class. The administrative
bureaucracy has consolidated its hold because of the absence
of democratic governments elected on the popular votes. Like
the colonial powers, the government in Pakistan has used the
administrative bureaucracy to control the people under the pretext
of the maintenance of law and order. The suggestion by the
author that the Union Councils and the markaz organization should
not have any government-appointed civil servant would be the
first step towards slacking the grip of the bureaucracy. The
District Council may be a supervising authority but with only
limited power to intervene in the affairs of the Union Councils
and the markaz centers.
The Punjab, being the major source of human and economic
resources in Pakistan, should provide a model for the develop-
ment of the rural areas in other provinces. The economic development
programs carried out in the Punjab have brought some utilities
and facilities to the rural areas compared with the pre-independent
Punjab. The economic development has not helped in bridging
the gap between the rich and the poor. The rural masses are
more dependent upon the socio-economic and political control
of the urban people and the landed elites. The suggested model
endeavors to evoke self-esteem and sence of responsibility.
It would take some time before the psychologically crippled
masses would be able to think and act independently from the
67
pressures of the landed elites. The process of independent
elections and making the officials responsible to the people
suggested by the author would bring about the desired changes.
There is a definite possibility that the elites would influence
the process to work in their favour by getting their loyals
to be elected. Further studies are needed to find out the mechanism
of the process and suggest solutions to reduce it.
The bureaucracy will not happily and willfully part
away from the total administrative control and authority enjoyed
by them now. They would pay lip service to such changes and
may also participate in the process half-heartedly but they
will try to block the process by emphasizing some real and imaginary
problems. Some studies would be required to understand their
techniques to overcome the possible hindrance.
The suggestion of creating a lot of semi-autonomous
territorial jurisdictions might create the problem of territorial
rivalaries and scuffles. Further studies would be needed to
define their rights and obligations within the constitutional
framework of the national and provincial governments.
Although the agropolitan model has been suggested to
solve the problems created by the particular socio-economic
and political conditions in the Punjab but the conditions in
the other provinces of Pakistan and in many developing countries
of Asia, Africa, and Latin America are not very different.
The interested scholars from those areas should carry out similar
studies to evolve solutions for their specific problems.
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A MODEL FOR EQUITABLE QUALITY OF LIFEIN THE RURAL PUNJAB: A REGIONAL APPROACH
by
MUHAMMAD AMIN UL KARIM
B.Sc, The University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, 1963B.Sc, Town Planning, West Pakistan University of Engineeringand Technology, Lahore, Pakistan, 1968
AN ABSTRACT OF THE MASTER'S THESIS
submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirement for the degree
MASTER OF REGIONAL AND COMMUNITY PLANNING
Department of Regional and Community Planning
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITYManhattan, Kansas
1985
ABSTRACT
This study has dealt with the problems of rural development
in the rural Punjab. The major problems in the Punjab are:
a) land tenure, b) the fragmentation of land holding, and c) local
administration. These problems have generated some secondary
problems which also need serious and simultaneous attention.
These problems are: a) migration, b) the abatement of traditional
crafts, and c) lack of infrastructure facilities. The remedy
to these provide a proper context for rural development approach.
The first five chapters: the introduction; land tenure
system and land reforms in the Punjab; administrative structure
and rural development; rural development in the Punjab; and
rural development theories and models, analyzed the past and
present situations as indicated in the chapter titles. These
chapters evaluated the past and present efforts of the public
and private sector to develop socio-economic conditions in the
rural Punjab.
The analysis of the various efforts to develop the Punjab
has encouraged the author to advocate a planning model based
on meeting the basic needs of the people. The chapter six,
"Proposals For Rural Development in the Punjab" suggests a new
planning and implementation strategy focussing on the utilization
of indigenous resources.
The suggested land ownership reforms reducing the magnitude
of individual and family holdings would reduce class differentials
in the rural society. This could also create incentive for
smaller families. Tenancy reforms, suggesting the extension
of lease period from one year to five years, could provide financial
security to the tenants encouraging hard work to get greater
output from the land.
Administrative decentralization is suggested so that
the Union Council and the markaz be a self-governing unit, respon-
sible for the planning and implementation of the developing
programs.
The major proposal is the agropolitan approach to the
rural development, the village being the focus and recipient
of development benefits. In order to involve less privileged
people like the landless, artisans, and women, in the decision
making process, the author suggests basing village council elections
on wards as constituent units and guaranteeing minority represen-
tation in the councils. The inter-community and intra-community
competition possibly generated by this system will provide incentive
to accomplish things on a self-help basis, instead of waiting
for external help. In such a system of the government at the
'grass-roots* level, there would be no need for the government
appointed administratives. It is hoped that the mechanism would
focus on agro-industries sealing the leakages of resources from
rural to urban areas.
The role of the state in such a system would be regulatory
and redistributive by coordinating the national and local government
policies. The government may prescribe some procedures and
methods to maintain records of the proceedings, particularly
on the budgeting side. The government should also encourage
economic diversity by encouraging rural industries.
Chapter seven summarizes all proposals advocated in
the study with conclusions and recommendations for further study.
Although, the implementation of these changes could
generate some friction and bottlenecks, patience and tolerance
should surmount these problems. The success of this model in
the Punjab would provide a guideline for the development of
rural areas in other provinces of Pakistan.